Part #1 of our Abernethy News!

It was so great seeing all the students today! There were lots of stories of what everyone did on their Spring Break and surprisingly a lot of stories of loose or lost teeth!

I can feel that Spring is in the air! It may not look like it... as temperatures are still way cooler than they need to be... but the energy is high and the student smiles are big!

As I started to write my staff newsletter last night, to send out to the staff for our week ahead, I was caught off guard that we are already in April!

With that being said, this newsletter will be sent out in 2 parts. We will have some exciting announcements as well as some to do actions for all you family members.

Lets start with some exciting announcements!

We have 3 absolutely amazing Abernethy students who will be honored and celebrated in the HeART of Portland Showcase! Isla Fredette, Luna Worona and Josephine Karoli are being showcased, honored and celebrated, along with other amazing Portland Public School students, in A Portland Public Schools K-12 Arts Showcase. I plan on being there to see these three students and would like to extend the invite to anyone else who would like to join!

The Thursday before Spring Break, we were able to have our March Flexibility Assembly! Here are the videos from our assembly!

Congratulations to all our Flexibility award winners!

As you all know, we are now in the final months of school. There is always a flurry of activities around this time, one of which is our Oregon State Assessment. This is an end of year assessment that our 3rd through 5th grade students can participate in.

As a staff, we have been focused on our 3 School Improvement Goals this year.

Abernethy School Improvement Reading Goal 2022-23

By the end of the 2022-2023 school year, the overall number of students meeting or exceeding grade level benchmark will increase from 73% to 80% in English Language Arts as measured by Oregon's end of year state assessment, OSAS. This will be done by specifically focusing on our Historically Underserved students and our students of color.

Abernethy School Improvement Math Goal 2022-23

By the end of the 2022-2023 school year, the overall number of students meeting or exceeding grade level benchmark will increase from 74% to 80% in Math as measured by Oregon's end of year state assessment, OSAS. This will be done by specifically focusing on our Historically Underserved students and our students of color.

Abernethy School Climate Goal 2022-23

Student engagement in the classroom will increase from 65% to 75% when focusing on:

Student Effort in the academic work they produce

Student Perseverance when work can be hard or challenging

Student Focus on tasks at hand, assignments in the classroom and activities around them that may be distracting

Student’s sense of belonging within the school, connection to content and ownership in their learning

Our Math and Reading goals are tied to our assessment data and we would like you to know that as a staff, we rely on this state assessment data as a source to help make decisions regarding our instruction, curriculum delivery and all instructional support services that we can offer. As a school, we have a shared commitment to equity and inclusion, which means that we are always looking for ways to assess our teaching and learning so that we can account for any and all structural biases, systemic inequalities, and celebrate all of our students diverse abilities. We know that these State Assessments are just a piece to our roadmap of growth as a school, however, we do look at all pieces a ways to help us grow and improve in what we can offer to your students. We are hoping that you will support us in this process.

We know that there are many feelings around standardized assessments and the stress that it can place on the students. However, please know that I would not ask you to participate if I did not believe the benefits of these assessments outweighed the disadvantages. We do and will support all students in their success with the simple saying of "This test is not the end all be all, but just a piece to how we as a school can grow. Just try your best and show all that you know".

Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. I am happy to answer any that you may have.